Improvement in sealing boxes



' no claim in this application.

ing.

UNITED STATES PATENT l' OFFICE.

HENRY n. MEAEsoENEW Yonx, n. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN sEALmG-Boxes, ao.;

To all whom t may concern:

,Be it known that I, HENRY D. MEAEs, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented' certain new and useful Improvements in Cordingand Sealing Boxes, Baies, Packages, &c.; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description-of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making a part of thisspecication, and which represents in perspective a box corded and sealedafter my general plan, the cords in red ink showing the peculiar featureof my invention, that in black not being herein claimed.

I am aware that boxes, bales, andpackages have been corded with wire.This I do not claim. I am also aware that a metallic seal has been usedin various ways. 'Io this I lay I am also aware that boxes, bales, 8vo.,have been corded with a hempen rope and sealed with some kindy of aseal. This I lay no claim to. Neither of the above things involve what Iaim at, nor does it accomplish the purpose I have in view, nor theapplication oi this mode of cording and sealing to articles transportedunder bond, as it were, not to be opened. y

. My invention consists in cording and sealing boxes and other similartransportable ar-Y ticles with metallic cords or wires passing throughsaid article, and sealing the ends of the thus binding metallic cords orwires by a metallic seal, so that the box, bale, package, or otherarticle cannot be opened without breaking the cord or wire or seal, orboth, and thus exposing the fact.`

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the draw- A represents abox to which my mode or" cording and sealing is applied (shown in redink) in two different ways, so as to fully illustrate the plan.

rI he wire Ycord d is passed p through the top and sides, (or the topand ends,.or both,) at the corners, as seen at ee, and the ends, when'brought together, are looped, knotted, or twisted, as shown at f, andthe ends beyond this sealed with a me- 'tallic seal, g, marked, stamped,or pressed in characters or otherwise to show its character, asexplained above. kThis cording could not be removed without breaking it,its seal,vor the wood or material it thus passes through.

At h is shown another plan, much like that .just above described, thoughmore simple, and

is more applicable to such boxes, bales, or packages as have their topshinged at one side: The wire iin this case is simply passed throughholes j j, made through the corner, or `so as to unite the lid with thebody ofthe article, and the seal k applied immediately to the ends ofthe wire. The ends may, however, be looped or twisted together and thensealed, and the seal in this case, as in the others, may be used todetect any violence in opening the article sealed 5 or it may designatevalue, destination,

import duty, tax, revenue, or the want of them. Ihvewire used may be ofsome corrosive resisting material, and when made ofv two or more strandstwisted together form such anA exterior surface as will firmly hold` thesoftmetal seal whenr tightly pressed against or around it. Copper orgalvanizedwire are the best for this purpose.

Having thus fully describedmy invention,

what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters ]?atent,is*

Gording and sealing boxes and other similar articles to be transportedby means of a metal cord or wire passing through said article, and'securing the ends thereof by a metallic Seal, as and for the purposeherein decribed and represented.

^ HENRY D. MEARS Witnesses:

A. B. SToUGH'roN, EDMUND Masson.

